Cast

Musikalische Leitung

Nathan Brock

Conductor

Nathan Brock

Hailed for his “deeply felt interpretations” (La Presse, Montreal) and “ferocious intensity” (Chronicle Herald, Halifax) Brock has had great success conducting symphonic, operatic and ballet performances around the world. Through his long-term collaborations with the Montreal Symphony, the Hamburg State Opera and the National Ballet of Canada he has an exceptional amount of experience in an extremely varied repertoire in all 3 genres.

During 2015/16 and 2016/17 Brock joined the Hamburgische Staatsoper as second conductor and assistant music director to Kent Nagano. In 2016/17 he led performances of “Die Zauberflöte”, “Hänsel und Gretel”, “Eleonora Duse” and new ballets “Turangalila” and “Anna Karenina”. He led rehearsals of “Lohengrin”, “Tristan und Isolde”, as well as for new productions of “Lulu” and “Die Frau Ohne Schatten”. In the 2015-16 season in Hamburg, he led productions of “L’Elisir d’Amore”, Britten’s “The Little Sweep” and conducted performances of “Il Barbieri di Siviglia”. He also collaborated for the first time with legendary director/choreographer John Neumeier on his new ballet “Eleonora Duse”. Additionally, he led rehearsals for “Les Troyens”, “Elektra”, “Pelléas et Mélisande” and, “Stilles Meer” (Hosakawa).

In addition to his immersive work at the Hamburg theatre, Brock returns regularly to conduct symphonic concerts with the Montreal Symphony and l’Orchestre National D’Ile de France. His relationship with the Montreal Symphony began in 2009 as an assistant and continued as Resident conductor. In 5 seasons with the orchestra he has conducted over 125 performances, making his subscription week debut in April 2010 and having appeared with such artists as Maxim Vengerov and Stephen Hough.

He has conducted the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Québec, Edmonton, Nova Scotia, Thunder Bay and Victoria in his native Canada, and in France led multiple performances with l’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire (Nantes) and l’Orchestre National Ile de France (Paris), as well as in Sweden with the Kunlinga Operan. He has performed over 50 times as a guest with the National Ballet of Canada appearing with the company in Toronto, Ottawa, New York and Washington in repertoire ranging from “Nutcracker” (Kudelka) to new productions of Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” (Ratmansky) and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (Wheeldon/Talbot).

Brock is the recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Heinz Unger Award and the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. For his creation of a new series of concerts for young adults in Montreal he was awarded the Quebec Music Council’s Prix Opus. As a producer his work (on CD - Sony, Analekta; television and radio CBC; web at Medici.tv) has won Quebec’s Prix Opus for best disc of the year (2015 Beethoven Symphonies/OSM) and been nominated several times for Canada’s Juno awards.

Committed to music education, he has worked with youth orchestras in Switzerland, the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and given masterclasses and coachings at McGill University Montreal, University of Toronto and to youth orchestras throughout the Ile de Montreal region. He has conducted the Glenn Gould School orchestra at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto as well as “Jeunesses Musicales du Canada’s“ production of “La Bohème”. Also deeply dedicated to new music, Brock gave three world premiers during his time in Montreal and another two as a guest at ONDIF in Paris.

He finished his conducting studies in Zürich with Johannes Schlaefli and at the Aspen Conducting academy. Other important influences came from masterclasses with David Zinman, Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Michael Tilson Thomas.

In addition to his accomplishments as a musician he also has a keen interest in history, with a degree in History and International Relations from the University of Toronto.

In 2007 he created the Aaron Brock Foundation in memory of his brother, accomplished classical guitarist Aaron Brock. The foundation supports a number of educational initiatives and performances in Toronto.

Performances

Oleksiy Palchykov

Oleksiy Palchykov was born in 1986 in Kiev. In 2006 he started his studies at the vocal faculty of the National Musical Tchaikovskiy Academy. In 2004 he is the recipient of the “Art of XXI century” international competition. He made his debut in 2008 singing the roles of Trike and Lenskiy in “Eugeny Onegin” (Tchaikovsky) at the National Shevchenko Opera Theatre and Lykov in “The Tzar’s Bride” (Rimskiy-Korsakov) with the Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet M. Dzhalil Theatre (Kazan, Russia) and the Shaliapin festival of opera singers.
In 2010 he received the Grand Prix of the XVI International Lydia Abramova vocal student’s competition “Bella voce” (Moscow, Russia), the Grand Prix for the best Tchaikovsky music performance in the National Tchaikovsky Musical Academy vocal faculty competition, the Third Prize of the “International Vocal Competition in Memory of Antonina Nezhdanova” (Odessa , Ukraine), the Special Award of the festival “Tournament Tenors” (Szczecin, Poland), the Special Prize of the Jury at the International Vocal Competition “Debut” (Wiekersheim, Germany). In 2011 he was awarded with the Grand Prix International Vocal Competition Ivana Alchevskogo “Alchevskiy Debut” (Kharkov, Ukraine). He is finalist of the International Vocal Competition in the Opera Festival in Savonlinna (Finland).

He has toured with the Kiev Musical Theatre performing the role of Alfredo in Verdi’s “La traviata” in Switzerland (Theatre du Leman in Geneva, Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, Theatre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Theâtre du Passage in Neuchatel). He performed in France the roles of the Second Policeman, the Second Gentleman, the First Dandy in the “The Nose” of Shostakovich (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2011 and the Opera de Lyon) with Kazushi Ono as conductor and William Kentridge as director, the roles of the Third Esquire in “Parsifal” (Opéra de Lyon) with Kazushi Ono as conductor and François Girard as director. With the Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki (Greece) performing “Jewish Songs” by Dmitry Shostakovich, conductor Alexander Myrat in 2012.

In October 2012, he joins the Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris. He sang the role of Gernando at La Ferme du Buisson and Théâtre Firmin Gémier / La Piscine and Ecclitico at the MC93 Bobigny.

In 2014 and 2015, he made his debut at the Opéra National de Paris in the role of the Messenger (Aida, October 2013), then sang the Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia) at the Théâtre de l’Athénée and Don Ottavio in (Don Giovanni) in Bobigny, Ecclitico in Haydn’s “Il mondo della luna”, Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Paris Bastille, Pylade (Iphigénie en Tauride) with the Atelier Lyrique, Ferrando (Così fan tutte) with the Atelier Lyrique of the Paris Opera in Paris.

In 2014 he received the Prix Lyrique du Carpeaux and Prix Lyrique de L'AROP. In the Summer of 2015 he was among the 5 finalists of the prestigious "BBC Singer Of World" singers competition. In October 2015 he covered Roberto Alagna in the role of Nemorino at Opéra Bastille.

Since 2017 he is member of the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera where he sings such parts as Tamino, Lensky, Ferrando, Nemorino, Steuermann, Eurimaco (Il ritorno d’Ulisse).

Peter Galliard

Peter Galliard was born in Chur, Switzerland. He studied under Rico Peterelli, at the Conservatory in Feldkirch under Maria Eibenschütz and at the Mozarteum Salzburg under Rudolf Knoll, where in 1985 he won First Prize at the International Mozart Competition.

In 1986 Rolf Liebermann invited him to join the Hamburg State Opera, where Galliard has been working till today. In Hamburg he sang Tamino in “Die Zauberflöte”, Jaquino in “Fidelio”, Cassio in “Otello”, Froh, Loge and Mime in “Das Rheingold”, Augustin Moser in “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, Alfred and Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus”, Peter Iwanow in “Zar und Zimmermann”, Bardolfo in “Falstaff”, Captain in “Wozzeck”, the Witch Knusperhexe in “Hänsel und Gretel”, Lenskij in “Eugen Onegin”, Narraboth in “Salome” and Don Basilio in “Le Nozze di Figaro”. In Amsterdam he sang the Prince in “Lulu and the Captain”. Peter Galliard also sang L'Aumonier in “Dialogues des Carmélites“ and Melot in “Tristan und Isolde“, Walther von der Vogelweide in “Tannhäuser“, Wolfgang Capito in “Mathis der Maler“, Goro in “Madame Butterfly“, Red Whiskers in “Billy Budd“ and Demon in “L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe“. In March 2008 Peter Galliard performed in the new production of “The Ring” in Hamburg as Loge in Rheingold. In 2008/09 he sang the part of Mime in “Das Rheingold” and Augustin Moser in “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”. Also in 2009 he made his debut as Mime in the new production of “Siegfried” and was highly praised by the audience and press. In the 2010/2011 season he sang in new productions of “Bliss” and “Palestrina”. In 2011/2012 concert performances of “Siegfried” and “Das Rheingold” led him to Lisbon and Australia. In the 2012/2013 season he gave a concert performance of “Das Rheingold” in Santa Cecilia. In summer 2013 he was part of concert performances of “Das Rheingold” and “Siegfried” at the Lucerne Festival. In spring 2015 “Siegfried” in Nuremberg followed. Apart from his commitments in Hamburg, in 2015/2016 he sang the Gurrelieder in Shanghai and Beijing, a concert at the Salzburger Osterfestspiele and the role of Haushofmeister bei Faninal in “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Opéra National de Paris. 17/18 leads him as guest to the Enescu Festival in Bucharest where he will be singing Capito in “Mathis der Maler”.

Peter Galliard performed at many opera houses in Germany – at the Staatsoper and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as at the Opera Houses in Frankfurt, Dresden and Leipzig. He also worked in Japan, Spain, France and Israel. Peter Galliard’s repertoire is very extensive. There are many TV, radio and CD recordings of his opera, Lied and concert performances. The tenor worked with famous stage directors such as August Everding, Johannes Schaaf, Harry Kupfer and Peter Konwitschny as well as with great conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Simone Young and Kirill Petrenko.

On December 9, 2017, the Hamburg Senate honored Peter Galliard with the title of “Kammersänger” for his special merits in the field of music.

Jennifer Larmore

Jennifer Larmore is an outstanding American mezzo-soprano, well known for her versatility, natural beauty and stage craft. This artist has a wide ranging repertoire, having begun with the coloratura roles of the Baroque and bel canto then adding music from the Romantic and Contemporary periods. She began her career at Opera de Nice in 1986 with Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” and went on to sing at virtually every major opera house in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Berlin Deutsche Oper, and London Covent Garden.

Miss Larmore has been recognized for a 1992 Gramophone award and a Grammy Award in 2007. In 1994 she won the Richard Tucker Award and in 1996 she sang at the Closing Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In that same year, she performed during a tribute to Gene Roddenberry on the live TV program “Star Trek 30 Years and Beyond”. In 2002, “Madame” Larmore was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres from the French government in recognition of her contributions to the world of music.

Jennifer Larmore has recorded widely for the Teldec, RCA, Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Arabesque, Opera Rara, Bayer, Naive, Chandos, VAI and Cedille labels in over one hundred CDs to date. Her DVD’s include “Jennifer Larmore in Performance” for VAI, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (Netherlands Opera), “L’Italiana in Algeri” (Opera de Paris), “La Belle Hélène” (The Hamburg Opera), “Orlando Furioso” (Opera de Paris) and “Jenufa” (Deutsche Oper Berlin). She has recorded two charming books on tape by Kim Maerkl entitled “Mozart’s Magical Night” with Hélène Grimaud and the Bavarian State Orchestra and “The King’s Daughter” with story and music for flute and string orchestra by Kim Maerkl with the flute player Natalie Schwaabe.

With her frequent collaborator Antoine Palloc, she has made many International recital tours, including appearances in Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Vietnam, Vienna, London, San Juan, Prague, Melbourne, Brussels, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Sao Paolo, Athens and Copenhagen, as well as all the major American venues.

Symphonic repertoire plays a large role in this mezzo’s career with the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, Mozart, de Falla, Debussy, Berlioz and Barber featuring prominently. Miss Larmore has enjoyed great collaborations with world orchestras under the direction of Muti, Lopez-Cobos, Bernstein, Runnicles, Sinopoli, Masur, von Dochnanyi, Jacobs, Mackarras, Spinosi, Abbado, Barenboim, Bonynge, Maazel, Osawa and Hengelbrock.

Throughout her illustrious career she has enjoyed an evolution in repertoire and voice, which has brought her new roles along the way. One of those roles is Elvira in “Don Giovanni” which she sung for the first time at Theater an der Wien in December 2016 and Marie in “Wozzeck” for Opera de Genève in February, 2017. In May, 2017 she sung the role of Geschwitz in “Lulu” at the Rome Opera.

Jennifer’s Countess Geschwitz in Berg’s “Lulu” has been a particular favourite, which she debuted to great success at Covent Garden in the Christof Loy production with Tony Pappano, then again in Madrid. Paris Opera Bastille and in the William Kentridge production in Amsterdam; Kostelnicka Buryjovka in Janacek’s “Jenufa” with Donald Runnicles at Berlin Deutsche Oper; Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s “Macbeth”, a role she debuted in a striking new production of Christoph Loy at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and subsequently in Bologna for the opening of the season in a new Robert Wilson production; Eboli in the French version of Don Carlos at the Caramoor Music Festival in New York with Will Crutchfield; Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Bard Festival, Mère Marie in Poulenc’s the “Les dialogues des Carmélites” again at the Caramoor Festival and Hélène in Offenbach’s “La Belle Hélène” at the Hamburg State Opera. She sang the role of Ottavia in Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” at Theater an der Wien, and she reprised the role of Kostelnicka Buryjovka in Tokyo at the National Theater.

In addition to her many activities, travels, performances, master classes and causes, author Jennifer Larmore is working on books that will bring a wider public to the love of opera. Her book “Una Voce” was released recently and delves into the psychology of the performer. It’s available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble bookstores and Lulu.com.

Miss Larmore, in collaboration with the double bass player Davide Vittone has created an ensemble called Jennifer Larmore and OpusFive. The three programs they offer are entertaining and varied with Songs and Arias, Cabaret/Operetta and Movies and Broadway which feature string quintet and voice. They have given concerts in Seville, Pamplona, Valencia, Las Palmas, Venice, Amiens, Aix en Provence, Dublin and Paris.

Performances

Viktor Rud

Viktor Rud studied choral conducting at the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in his native Kyiv, Ukraine and graduated with Masters Diploma with Honours. From 1999 to 2002 he led Ukrainian National Technical University Chorus as its Artistic Director. In 2002 he moved to London to pursue vocal studies at the Royal Academy of Music. He graduated from the RAM in 2006 receiving Special Prize of HRH Duchess of Gloucester, President of RAM. In 2009 Rud was elected Associate of RAM. He completed his vocal studies in Britain at the National Opera Studio. Viktor Rud moved to Germany in 2007 to become a member of the Staatsoper Berlin International Opera Studio for its inaugural season. The IOS was founded by Daniel Barenboim and supported bei Liz Mohn Foundation. Among many roles performed in Berlin were: Mr Astley in Prokofiev “The Gambler“ (conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov) and Mamma Agata in Donizetti “Viva La Mamma!“. In summer of 2008 Rud was a member of the Montblanc Young Singers Project at Salzburg Festival. From 2009 to 2017 Viktor Rud has been a soloist at the Hamburg State Opera, where his roles included: Figaro “Il Barbiere di Siviglia“, Conte Almaviva “Le nozze di Figaro“, Guglielmo “Così fan tutte“, Poeta Prosdocimo in “Il Turco in Italia“, Harlequin in “Ariadne auf Naxos“, Silvio “Pagliacci“, Schaunard “Bohème“, Dr Falke “Fledermaus“, Ned Keene “Peter Grimes“, Fernando in Händel “Almira, Königin von Kastilien“, Dandini “Cenerentola“, Belcore “L’Elisir d“Amore“, Agamemnon in Offenbach “La Belle Hélène“, Lord Byron in Aribert Reimann “Unrevealed“, Graf Luna in Pfitzner “Palestrina“, Morales ”Carmen“, Henry Cuffe in Benjamin Britten “Gloriana“, Alex Duval in Brett Dean “Bliss“.

Viktor Rud is the recipient of several awards including the Marilyn Horne Foundation Prize, the William Matheus Sullivan Prize, the International Mozart Competition and the Opera Rara Bel Canto Prize. Viktor Rud has appeared as a guest soloist at La Scala, Milan (Mr Astley “The Gambler“ with Daniel Barenboim), as Don Fernando “Fidelio“ also with Barenboim in a European tour of the East-West Divan Orchestra including the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London, the Salzburg Festival and Teatro Maestranza, Seville. He sang Fernando in “Almira, Königin von Kastilien“ for the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Guglielmo for Staatsoper Hannover, Shaunard for Oper Leipzig and Oper Graz, Herr Fluth in Otto Nicolai „Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor“ for Operklosterneuburg and “Viva la Mamma“ in Dresden.

Performances

Max Emanuel Cencic

Max Emanuel Cencic is one of the most fascinating and versatile singing artists in the world today, and one dedicated to the revival and performance of the music of the 18th century.
His 2016/17 season has seen many exciting projects, including Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, his débuts at the Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele and at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, as well as a revival of Gluck’s “Ezio” at the Frankfurt Opera. Another high point was a staged version of “Arminio” at the Handel Festspiele 2017 in Karlsruhe, which he also directed. He fulfilled again this dual role in Hasse’s “Siroe” at the Mai-Festspiele 2017 at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden.

With his remarkable mezzo-soprano voice, Max Emanuel Cencic demonstrates that Baroque singing can be both technically brilliant and at the same time modern and emotionally engaging. For over two decades he has been performing in opera houses of the first rank, including the Wiener Staatsoper, the Theater an der Wien, the Opernhaus Zürich, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris and Brussels’ La Monnaie. Concert engagements have taken him to the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Carnegie Hall (New York), the Barbican Center (London), Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Wiener Musikverein and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. In addition he has sung at numerous festivals worldwide. He regularly works with such conductors as William Christie, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, George Petrou, Emmanuelle Haïm and Riccardo Muti. His education as a singer began as a member of the Wiener Saengerknaben (Vienna Boys’ Choir), with a solo career as a soprano from 1992, and as a counter-tenor from 2001.

Max Emanuel Cencic entrances his audiences with his numerous projects, opera productions, CD recordings, and extensive tours. TV-stations such as Mezzo TV and Arte Concert have also documented several of his outstanding performances, including his revelatory presentation of Handel’s “Alessandro” (2012). As Artistic Director of Parnassus Arts Productions he is responsible for the conception, supervision and performance of important works of the Italian Baroque, among them the sensational re-discovery of Leonardo Vinci’s last opera, “Artaserse”. As in its premiere in 1730 in Rome, this new production, performed with an all-male cast (including five counter-tenors), was widely praised, both in its live performances and on disc: it received ECHO Klassik awards in 2013 and 2014, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d‘or, and was nominated for a Grammy. His inspired revival of Vinci’s opera “Catone in Utica”, with four counter-tenors in the cast, was equally successful, both on stage and as a CD recording.

His solo-recordings are every bit as riveting: with “Venezia” he charmed audiences and critics alike with highlights from Venetian opera, while the CD “Rokoko” contained a fascinating compilation of arias from the extended and virtually unknown opus of Johann Adolph Hasse. Max Emanuel Cencic’s most recent, critically acclaimed CD, “Arie Napoletane”, is dedicated to masterpieces of the Neapolitan school. His wide-ranging discography includes several world premiere recordings and has received a number of awards, among them the Diapason d’Or, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and Croatia’s Porin Prize. His discs have been “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone magazine on several occasions. The French Ministry of Culture made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Max Emanuel Cencic is also well on his way to international fame as director, as with the live production of Hasse’s “Siroe”, which toured all over Europe and was released on CD by Decca. At the Handel festival in Karlsruhe in 2016, he again undertook the double role of lead singer and director of Handel’s rarely performed opera, “Arminio”. In the coming seasons he will extend his directorial portfolio with new productions of Rossini’s “La Donna del Lago”, Handel’s “Il Pastor Fido” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”. Also on the horizon is the release by Warner Classics of arias recorded by Max Emanuel Cencic as a boy soprano.

Performances

Sergei Ababkin

Sergei Ababkin was born in 1991 in Parabel, Russian Federation. In 2008 he entered the vocal faculty of Krasnoyarsk College of Arts by Ivanov-Radkevich (teacher V. M. Gavrichkov). 2011 he won the first prize of the International Competition "Romansiada" in Moscow. A year later Sergei Ababkin entered the vocal faculty of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory by Rimsky-Korsakov (teacher n. a. of Russia, Y. M. Marusin) and is currently in his fourth year.

His repertoire includes Lykov in Rimsky-Korsakov´s "The Tsar's Bride", Lensky in Tchaikovsky´s "Eugene Onegin" and young Romani in Rachmaninoff´s "Aleko".
Since 2016/17 Sergei Ababkin is part of the International Opera Studio at the Hamburg State Opera.

Performances

Soomin Lee

Soomin Lee was born in 1993 in Daegu, South Korea. After studying there she got the Bachelor‘ s in Voice at the Keimyung University with excellent result. At the age of 22 she gave her debut as an opera-singer at the Opera House in Daegu and made many important experiences on the stage and the concert podium.

She took part in Master Classes with Jenny Anvelt (Keimyung University) and Gianni Tangucci (Daegu Opera). Even when she was studying Soomin Lee sang the big parts of Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Mozart and Gounod in University-Performances.

The successful participation in vocal competitions – just as Eum Jeung Haung Vocal Music National Competition Yangsan (South Korea 2016) – made her voice enlarged in musical and vocal-technical sense.

Soomin Lee is scholar of the Daegu Opera House Foundation.

Performances

Renate Spingler

Renate Spingler began her musical studies at the State Conservatory for Music in Munich. She finished her vocal training under the guidance of world acclaimed soprano Professor Reri Grist. Immediately after her studies, she received an engagement as soloist at the Hamburg State Opera, to whose venerable ensemble she still belongs. In the scope of her duties at this opera house, she works with many internationally renowned conductors and directors.

The recordings of this mezzo soprano include the soundtrack of “The Magic of
Venus“, starring Glenn Close, in which she sang the role of the Shepherd
(Tannhäuser), and another “Tannhäuser“ production with the Hamburg State
Opera produced and aired by a Japanese television company.

As an active performer of contemporary music, Renate Spingler also participated in recording productions led by Gerd Albrecht with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, which have included ”Hagadah“ by Paul Dessau and the world premiere of „Freispruch für Medea“ by Rolf Liebermann. Under the direction of Ingo Metzmacher and the Hamburg State Opera, she sang the role of Margret in a live EMI recording of Berg’s “Wozzeck“. Recently, two further recordings with the Philharmoniker Hamburg led by Simone Young have been released by Oehms Classics: In the “Walküre“ by Richard Wagner, Renate Spingler sang the role of Rossweiße; in the live recording of the highly acclaimed premiere of Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler“, she sang the role of Gräfin Helfenstein / Üppigkeit.

Other solo performances include concerts and recitals throughout Europe and North
America in cities such as Munich, Hamburg, Bratislava, Monte Carlo, Luxembourg, Prague and New York. Furthermore, Renate Spingler worked as a Guest Professor for Singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock from March 2005 to March 2006. In June 2008, she sang the role of Sigrune in two concert performances of the opera Walküre at the Gran Teatre del Liceu together with Placido Domingo and Waltraud Meier under the direction of Sebastian Weigle.

On December 9, 2017, the Hamburg Senate honored Renate Spingler with the title of “Kammersängerin” for her special merits in the field of music.

Gabriele Rossmanith

Gabriele Rossmanith was born in Stuttgart. After receiving a diploma in violin she studied singing in her home town with Sylvia Geszty. Upon her graduation in 1984 she joined the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. She performed as a guest soloist at the opera houses of Munich, Antwerp, Brussels, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Toulouse and Strasbourg. Since 1988 she has been an ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera, where she has sung numerous roles, including Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Micaëla (Carmen), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Morgana (Alcina), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nedda (Pagliacci), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Musetta (La Bohème).

Gabriele Rossmanith has enjoyed major success as Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites). She sang in new productions of “Der Rosenkavalier” (Duenna), “Das Rheingold” (Wellgunde) and “Die Walküre” (Ortlinde.) In the 2010/11 season she sang Clorinda in the première of “La Cenerentola” and Rosine in Oscar Strasnoy’s “Le Bal”. In 2012 she made her debut as Echo in the premiere of “Ariadne auf Naxos” and sang, among other roles, Zerlina in “Don Giovanni”. Her roles in the 2015/16 season included Despina in “Così fan tutte” and Ännchen in “Der Freischütz”.

Numerous concerts, radio and television recordings, as well as “Liederabende”, “chansons” and chamber music programs round out Ms. Rossmanith’s creative activities. Tours have led Gabriele Rossmanith to opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, including Central and South America, Japan, Canada and Israel. Several CD recordings of her work are available. With the Süddeutscher Rundfunk she recorded telecasts of “Italienisches Liederbuch” (Hugo Wolf) and “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (Gustav Mahler). For the past several years, Gabriele Rossmanith has been studying with Ks. Brigitte Eisenfeld, and has increased her focus on “Lieder”, “chansons” and chamber music. In 2011 the senate of the Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg honored her with the title “Kammersängerin”.

Performances

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

The Philharmonic State Orchestra is Hamburg’s largest and oldest orchestra, looking back on many years of musical history. When the “Philharmonic Orchestra” and the “Orchestra of the Hamburg Municipal Theatre” merged in 1934, two tradition-steeped orchestras combined. Philharmonic concerts have been performed in Hamburg since 1828, artists such as Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms being regular guests of the Philharmonic Society. The history of the opera company goes back even further: Hamburg has been home to musical theatre since 1678, even if a regular opera or theatre orchestra was only formed later. To this day, the Philharmonic State Orchestra has embodied the sound of the Hansa City, a concert and opera orchestra in one.

Starting with the 2015/2016 season, Kent Nagano has taken on the position of Hamburg’s General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera. In his first season Kent Nagano initiated a new project, the Philharmonic Academy at St. Michaelis, focusing on experimentation and chamber music. In 2016 Nagano and the Philharmonic undertook a successful three-week concert tour in South America. Since 2017 Kent Nagano and the Philharmonic State Orchestra have continued the traditional Philharmonic Concerts at the new Elbphilharmonie, for which they commissioned Jörg Widmann to compose the oratorio ARCHE, which was given its world premiere during the hall’s opening festivities.

The Philharmonic State Orchestra offers approximately 35 concerts per season and performs more than 240 performances per year at the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet – John Neumeier, making it Hamburg’s busiest orchestra. The stylistic bandwidth covered by the 134 musicians, ranging from historically informed performance practice to contemporary works and including concert, opera and ballet repertoire, is unique throughout Germany. Chamber Music has a long tradition at the Philharmonic State Orchestra: what began in 1929 with a concert series for chamber orchestra has been continued since 1968 by a series of chamber music only, which celebrates its 50-year anniversary in 2017/18.

In 2008 Simone Young and the Philharmonic State Orchestra won the Brahms Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. In 2012 Simone Young received a Helpmann Award for performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Wagner’s Rheingold with the Philharmonic in Brisbane, Australia. The orchestra has recorded the complete Ring by Wagner as well as the complete symphonies of Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner – the latter in the rarely-performed original versions – as well as works by Mahler, Hindemith and Berg, and has released DVDs of opera and ballet productions by Hosokawa, Offenbach, Reimann, Auerbach, J.S. Bach, Puccini, Poulenc and Weber.

The members of the Philharmonic State Orchestra feel equally beholden to the Hansa City’s musical tradition and responsible for the city’s artistic future. Since 1978 the musicians have been participating in education programmes in Hamburg’s schools. To this day, the TV format Musikkontakte initiated by Gerd Albrecht during his tenure as General Music Director is unforgotten. Today, the orchestra maintains a broad education programme, including school and kindergarten visits, patronage for music projects, introductory events for children and family concerts. The orchestra’s own academy prepares young musicians for their professional careers. The Philharmonic’s musicians thereby make an equally enjoyable and valuable contribution to tomorrow’s music education in the music metropolis of Hamburg.